Mentions of Grey Power New Zealand in New Zealand Parliament debates
Grey Power New Zealand has been mentioned in 119 parliamentary debates since November 2005.
Valedictory Statement 27 Sep 2011
SUE KEDGLEY ... the Nurses Organisation, the Service and Food Workers Union, the Charter of Health Practitioners, Alcohol Action, Grey Power, and many others—I could go on and on. I would have achieved little without their collaboration and support. Thanks ...
General Debate 7 Sep 2011
TIM MACINDOE I say to Ms Beaumont that I had a very similar experience a couple of weeks ago, when I spoke to a Grey Power audience in my electorate. Again, Grey Power is not a traditional National Party audience, but what a wonderful, ...
Energy and Resources
Hydro-electricity Dams, Waitaki River—Sale by Meridian Energy to Genesis Energy 6 Sep 2011
Hon David Parker ... would have fewer options for controlling excess electricity prices, why does the Minister dismiss the concerns of Grey Power that her Government’s privatisation plans would lead to higher power prices?
Hon HEKIA PARATA ... number of consumers who have switched companies to find a more competitive power price for themselves. I think that Grey Power will find that is very helpful to its members.
Appropriation (2011/12 Estimates) Bill
Imprest Supply Debate 10 Aug 2011
Hon TREVOR MALLARD ... We can contrast that with Labour’s policy and plan that is developing and becoming clear. I was at a meeting of Grey Power relatively recently, and its members are very, very keen on the $10 a week tax cut that each of them will get under ...
General Debate 13 Jul 2011
Hon ANNETTE KING ... the people all the time”, and you certainly cannot fool older New Zealanders. John Key might think that those in Grey Power and those who are retired do not quite understand, are out of touch, and do not count, but I think he has made a ...
Budget Debate 8 Jun 2011
Hon STEVE CHADWICK ... health. This Government has spent money over the last 3 years on more surgery, because it is sexy to go out and tell Grey Power that we are doing more hips, knees, and eyes. There is nothing about health and wellness. Government members have cut ...
JO GOODHEW ... announced, particularly given the economic climate we are all facing.” Then there was a comment from the Timaru Grey Power secretary, John Button. Unlike members on the other side of the House, I will not read just the comments supportive of ...
JAMI-LEE ROSS ... quality companies. Many people have invested in finance companies and lost their money. If MPs went to their local Grey Power meeting and asked those people whether they would rather invest in a finance company or in a successful Government ...
LOUISE UPSTON ... early childhood education centres and schools, because they are important beneficiaries of this Budget, and spoken to Grey Power and Age Concern. You name it, I have met them over the last couple of weeks, because it is important that they ...
General Debate 11 May 2011
JOHN BOSCAWEN ... policies and the honesty to present them. It is a pity that when Phil Goff lamented the price of electricity at Grey Power’s national annual general meeting last weekend he did not tell the meeting also that he voted for an emissions trading ...
Land Transport (Road Safety and Other Matters) Amendment Bill
In Committee 13 Apr 2011
DARIEN FENTON ...rāoa and Rodney came down; 77 of them were involved in putting together a submission. The Seventh Day Adventist Church, Grey Power Auckland area committee, Active West Coast, Christchurch City Council, the Drug Foundation, and the Cycling Advocates ...
Social Security Amendment Bill (No 3)
First Reading 6 Apr 2011
SU’A WILLIAM SIO ... it and we want to go out and ask for the views of the general public. I have to say that if we send this bill out to Grey Power, whose members will be affected by what is in this bill, or to the students associations of the various universities ...
SU’A WILLIAM SIO ... that when this bill goes out for consultation, I expect that questions will be asked by members of Federated Farmers, Grey Power, and students associations. They will ask what plans this Government has for raising the productivity and economy of ...
Taxation (GST and Remedial Matters) Bill
In Committee 10 Dec 2010
STUART NASH ... abuse. Portfolio investment entities are used a lot by people who are saving for their retirement. I wonder whether Grey Power was consulted about this measure. I will read out subsection (3) of section 31C that is inserted by new clause 78B: “For...
STUART NASH ... Trevor Mallard alluded to the fact that Federated Farmers had not been asked about it. As I asked earlier, was Grey Power consulted over it? I suspect that it was not. A lot of people who would have presented to the select committee were ...
Electoral (Disqualification of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Bill
Second Reading 20 Oct 2010
PAUL QUINN ... ordinary people on the street as my peers, and I tell Mr Hipkins that I have spoken to 50 people at an assembly of Grey Power, and all those people supported this bill. I conclude by saying that the people support this bill, and that is why I ...
Tabling of Documents - Aged Care—Labour, Green, and Grey Power Report
Aged Care—Labour, Green, and Grey Power Report 19 Oct 2010
Hon RUTH DYSON I seek the leave of the House to table the Labour, Green, and Grey Power report into the future of aged care, containing 14 recommendations for the Government to consider.
Valedictory Statement 12 Oct 2010
Hon LUAMANUVAO WINNIE LABAN ... care services. Three times my request was turned down, so Labour, with the support of the Greens, joined forces with Grey Power to investigate the quality of our country’s rest homes and home-based support services. In the last few months Sue ...
Electricity Industry Bill
In Committee 21 Sep 2010
Hon DAMIEN O’CONNOR ... any particular organisation or industry group. That means that New Zealanders on a fixed income, be they members of Grey Power or beneficiaries, will not be able to have a champion on the authority, because the legislation prevents that. What ...
General Debate 15 Sep 2010
H V ROSS ROBERTSON ... impact on serving others and the elderly. The attacks on seniors continue. If we go around the country and talk to Grey Power groups, one of the things we find is that they are unhappy with the advocacy for them at the highest levels of ...
Transport
SuperGold Card—Government Commitment 9 Sep 2010
Hon NATHAN GUY ... level of subsidy, and that has been widely consulted on with regional councils and operators and with the likes of Grey Power and Age Concern. So far, from the 14 regional councils that have been consulted through this process, we are getting ...
Social Assistance (New Work Tests, Incentives, and Obligations) Amendment Bill
In Committee 17 Aug 2010
H V ROSS ROBERTSON ... the impact that this bill will have on senior citizens. In the course of my role in Parliament I frequently visit Grey Power groups around the country. One of the things that they are concerned about in terms of the provisions of this bill is ...
Estimates Debate - In Committee
In Committee 27 Jul 2010
Hon DARREN HUGHES ... a press release headed “Starvation Imminent in Prime Minister’s Electorate”, which is actually a press release from Grey Power, not from the Hon Ruth Dyson. Tony Ryall has just misled the Committee by telling us it was a press release from that ...
Hon LUAMANUVAO WINNIE LABAN ... home help has been cut entirely. She cannot manage her own cleaning and day-to-day tasks. Stories like those have led Grey Power in Southland to lodge a case with the Human Rights Commission about cuts to home help in Southland, as reported by the ...
Courts (Remote Participation) Bill
In Committee 30 Jun 2010
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL ... the proceedings, and they can. I think this is a very important point. I recall very clearly talking to somebody from Grey Power about what it was like to make a submission to the select committee by way of an audiovisual link. That person said to ...
Taxation (Annual Rates, Trans-Tasman Savings Portability, KiwiSaver, and Remedial Matters) Bill
Second Reading 24 Jun 2010
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE ... fiscal risks section of the Budget documents that funding stream has been removed as “no longer required”. I am sure Grey Power members will be extremely concerned to hear that. We are extremely concerned. We think it is irresponsible, and I have ...
Financial Service Providers (Pre-Implementation Adjustments) Bill
In Committee 23 Jun 2010
H V ROSS ROBERTSON ... legislation. Time and time again as I go around this country advocating for and addressing small-business people and Grey Power groups, one of the things that I am told about is their concern about the slackness and the sloppiness of the ...
Budget Debate 2 Jun 2010
Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON ... not say that that Budget was universally applauded, and I can still remember the words that some of the members of Grey Power had to say to us. I think that Budget had to be done; I am not going into the past now, but it was not well received. ...
Budget Debate 26 May 2010
Hon LUAMANUVAO WINNIE LABAN ... people of my Mana electorate. I want to quickly talk about the elderly. In the last 2 weeks the first five of 19 Grey Power meetings were hosted around New Zealand. There is increasing concern about what is happening. Since we announced the ...
Hon STEVE CHADWICK Mr John Carter, who is sitting next to the whip. We have been at a Grey Power meeting in Rotorua today. It was a big Grey Power meeting, and we were very, very positively received. The senior ...
Taxation (Budget Measures) Bill
In Committee 21 May 2010
JOHN BOSCAWEN ... were going to reimburse people for the increase in GST. The Prime Minister even went and gave a speech at North Shore Grey Power back in April about that. But this Government has continuously refused to acknowledge that we have a tax being put on ...
Second Reading 20 May 2010
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE ... who are affected, if they ever meet those folks, who are worse off as we speak tonight. I invite them to go to Grey Power and explain why their leader broke that promise. Every last member opposite got his or her backside over the line in ...
Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill 2010
Third Reading 18 Nov 2010
SU’A WILLIAM SIO ... as this bill is being rammed through the House in urgency, as the Government is now doing. Organisations such as Grey Power, and the ratepayers and residents associations right throughout this country are asking that question. I suspect that ...
In Committee 18 Nov 2010
SU’A WILLIAM SIO ... Bill is a Minister who has lost a lot of credibility in the eyes of the community, particularly in the eyes of the Grey Power community. It is the people in the Grey Power community who spend considerable time being part of their communities, ...
SU’A WILLIAM SIO ... elected representatives and can be part of the community, but they are not solely the community. The community are Grey Power; the community are ratepayer associations; and the community are Manukau, Auckland region, Waitakere, and Porirua ...
First Reading 4 May 2010
Hon GEORGE HAWKINS ... a lot of things, and we kept the rates down, but I say that 35 years is too far into the future. All those people in Grey Power will be 100 before they get a vote again on water services, if a council adopts that provision in this bill. I say ...
Questions to Ministers - Question No. 3 to Minister
Question No. 3 to Minister 22 Apr 2010
Hon TREVOR MALLARD ... leave was declined because, according to members opposite, it had been previously tabled. I have had an inquiry from Grey Power, which wants to publish it. I have been on to the website but I cannot find that document; that might be due to my ...
Debate on Budget Policy Statement 17 Mar 2010
Hon ANNETTE KING ... Government start those cuts? It started with the people who it thinks will complain the least. It is no wonder that Grey Power and all the organisations that support older New Zealanders are increasingly alarmed at the attacks on their members. ...
Financial Review Debate - In Committee
In Committee 16 Mar 2010
Hon STEVEN JOYCE ... that is being provided. We are happy for them to do that, because I can tell members that taxpayers, and, in fact, Grey Power, want us to do that. Grey Power endorsed our approach on Friday—
Hon STEVEN JOYCE ... so that the scheme could be kept sustainable and continued into the future. That is what they said on Friday. So the Grey Power people are in favour and every other taxpayer is in favour, and all members opposite can say is that they like to ...
Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 17 Feb 2010
H V ROSS ROBERTSON Let me just say to the member, on behalf of senior citizens, that during my regular visits to Grey Power around the country, I have been alarmed to hear of instances of a general lack of care and empathy for some of our ...
Finance
Finance, Minister—Statements 21 Apr 2010
Hon David Cunliffe Among his recent statements, is his claim to Grey Power that he will consider restoring New Zealand Superannuation Fund contributions sooner than had been expected an ...
Senior Citizens—Effect of Government Policies 21 Apr 2010
Hon PHIL GOFF What reassurance did he give to delegates at the Grey Power conference about his explanation of how Government policies were affecting vulnerable, older people?
Hon BILL ENGLISH At the meeting with Grey Power, I outlined to Grey Power that we felt the system ought to deal with cases individually to ensure that vulnerable ...
Hon Phil Goff Did the Grey Power delegates think it was fair that frail and vulnerable elderly people on low incomes have been stripped of their home—
Mr SPEAKER The member asked whether Grey Power delegates did something; the Minister has no responsibility for that.
Hon BILL ENGLISH They raised the issue of home care, because we have an open and constructive relationship with Grey Power. Where they have raised legitimate cases that should be looked at, the Minister of Health has undertaken to look at ...
Hon Phil Goff At the end of his discussion with the Grey Power delegates, did he have any better understanding of why they think this Government is looking after itself and its ...
Finance, Minister—Statements 17 Feb 2010
Hon David Cunliffe What does the Minister say to Grey Power, who have, in response to his claims that superannuitants will be automatically compensated for an increase in GST, ...
Local Government (Auckland Council) Bill
In Committee 16 Sep 2009
CATHERINE DELAHUNTY ... the Ponsonby Economics Study Group, the Tamaki Community Board, the Auckland Regional Council, the Auckland branch of Grey Power, and the Cook Islands Community Forum. The Cook Islands Community Forum representatives were particularly notable, as ...
Appropriation (2009/10 Estimates) Bill
Third Reading 26 Aug 2009
Hon ANNETTE KING ... that would have been filled by a New Zealander; they are not new jobs. What have we got? We have exactly what Grey Power said to me would happen; we have the old unemployment merry-go-round under way. So $5,000 is given to an employer to ...
General Debate 5 Aug 2009
Hon LUAMANUVAO WINNIE LABAN ... doctors, nurses, caregivers, family members, and members of the community. I have also met and spoken with members of Grey Power and of Age Concern. As the spokesperson on Pacific Island affairs and the Interfaith Group, and as the MP for Mana, I ...
General Debate 29 Jul 2009
Hon ANNETTE KING ... like her rough and tumble, westie approach to politics. She can charm, she can joke, and she certainly can laugh, as Grey Power found out when they had a very unsuccessful visit to her office. Now we know that she can insult, attack, and belittle ...
SIMON BRIDGES ... will stay at 66 percent of the average wage after tax. That is something the people of Tauranga, along with the local Grey Power and Age Concern organisations and many other groups in my electorate, are very happy about, especially in light of ...
Supplementary Estimates - Imprest Supply Debate
Imprest Supply Debate 23 Jun 2009
Hon JUDITH COLLINS ... national superannuation at 66 percent of the average wage. Every member on this side of the House who went to all the Grey Power meetings during the election campaign had to listen to Labour Party members say that a National Government would cut ...
Hon RUTH DYSON ... superannuation needs of their sons, daughters, and grandchildren, she is wrong. I am very proud to have been to more Grey Power meetings than any member in this House. Grey Power members are not interested in their own personal well-being as a ...
Budget Debate 4 Jun 2009
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE ... it is that member. The fool on the second row cares nothing about the elderly. Let him go and barrack at the Grey Power meeting in his patch—oh, he does not have one! Let him go to an Age Concern meeting and sit there, like a stuffed dummy,...
Taxation (Budget Tax Measures) Bill
Third Reading 29 May 2009
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE ... them on holding the pension at the same level of entitlement. They believe they deserve congratulations from Grey Power and Age Concern. Well, yes, they have held the pension at the same level of entitlement, but the great debate that we ...
Social Development and Employment
Benefits and Superannuation—1 April Changes 6 Apr 2011
Hon Annette King If older New Zealanders are feeling more certain about their future after the 1 April change, why is Grey Power in its latest magazine saying: “The Government is more interested in its big dividends from power companies than the ...
Hon Annette King I would like to table the Grey Power newsletter, which is not available to everyone, in order that people might like to see it—
Young Offenders—Boot Camps 12 May 2009
Jacinda Ardern ... of Justice, Simon Power, one of the critics she thinks is misleading the public, given that in a recent meeting with Grey Power he stated that on the matter of boot camps he is of the opinion that they do not work for offenders?
Valedictory Statement 8 Apr 2009
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK ... with MPs leaving both major parties to sit elsewhere in the House, around the cross benches. I will never forget a Grey Power meeting I attended in Wanganui as the Leader of the Opposition, where there was a panel of representatives of the ...
Social Assistance (Payment of New Zealand Superannuation and Veteran's Pension Overseas) Amendment Bill
First Reading 31 Mar 2009
SU’A WILLIAM SIO ...trong> on 25 February stated: “Key won’t rule out Super Fund suspension”. These kinds of headlines only remind Grey Power and senior citizens throughout New Zealand of the National Government in the 1990s. Members will know about the comment:...
Electoral Amendment Bill 2009
Second Reading 17 Feb 2009
JOHN BOSCAWEN ... challenge to the Attorney-General. I was joined by the late Graham Stairmand, the previous national president of Grey Power, and by Garth McVicar and Rodney Hide.
Taxation (Urgent Measures and Annual Rates) Bill
Second Reading 10 Dec 2008
Hon TREVOR MALLARD ... members sound like they are proud of it. I will tell members something—Paul Quinn did not go and tell people at the Grey Power meetings that if they had some savings, then their net income would go down. He did not tell them that. I am not sure ...
Appointments - Independent Police Conduct Authority
Independent Police Conduct Authority 26 Sep 2008
CHESTER BORROWS ... as the National Party candidate in Whanganui; we have been doing battle ever since. I must admit that attending a Grey Power meeting yesterday afternoon without Jill and her melodic tones, and without banter from Warren Pettis, Dave Vallely, ...
Valedictories 25 Sep 2008
Hon PAUL SWAIN ... hard work, and support over all these years. To my family—my late father, who has organised a heavenly chapter of Grey Power to make sure the superannuation surcharge never comes back; my mother, who has defended my honour on late-night ...
Government Superannuation Fund Amendment Bill 2008
First Reading 24 Sep 2008
Dr PITA SHARPLES ... are regarded as genuine treasures. So it was extremely disappointing early this year to read the release from Grey Power, which indicated that superannuitants were being let down by the current administration. The release put out by the ...
Privilege - Consideration of Report of Privileges Committee, Members’ Pecuniary Interests—Gifts and Donations
Consideration of Report of Privileges Committee, Members’ Pecuniary Interests—Gifts and Donations 23 Sep 2008
Dr WAYNE MAPP ... specifically asked by Mr Brownlee whether he had reimbursed Mr Henry for $40,000 court costs. After all, he had told Grey Power in a written speech precisely that fact. What did he do? One would think the answer would be a simple yes or no. But ...
Climate Change (Emissions Trading and Renewable Preference) Bill
In Committee 2 Sep 2008
SANDRA GOUDIE ... over-65s the need for them to have back-up. I can tell members that I find quite astounding the number of over-65s at Grey Power meetings who tell me they had back-up systems and were prepared. That sent a signal that they do not have confidence ...
Estimates Debate - In Committee
In Committee 5 Aug 2008
HONE HARAWIRA ... states: “The ministry aims to achieve further productivity and efficiency improvements.”, I also note that Grey Power is saying that 75,000 old people are living in poverty, and another 230,000 are living just above the poverty line. ...
Budget Debate 28 May 2008
RUSSELL FAIRBROTHER ... of Budgets. Looking at his waistline, we can certainly see that. I too have listened to lots of Budgets—as I am a Grey Power member, that is self-explanatory. [ Interruption] Members will have to speak up. I do not have my new hearing aid yet, ...
Taxation (Personal Tax Cuts, Annual Rates, and Remedial Matters) Bill
Third Reading 22 May 2008
Hon PHIL GOFF ... offered them and said: “No, no; we are doing pretty well with this group.” I even saw that the vice-president of Grey Power said that older New Zealanders would be very pleased with this Budget. People should be very pleased with this Budget. ...
Debate on Budget Policy Statement 12 Mar 2008
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE ... and ensure they forget about the three cuts that National made. Graham Stairmand, the national president of Grey Power, when quoted on 27 September 2007 about Mr English’s admission that he would sell assets, said: “This will seal the ...
Electoral Finance Bill, Broadcasting Amendment Bill (No 3), Electoral Amendment Bill - Third Readings
Third Readings 18 Dec 2007
Hon Maurice Williamson What does Grey Power say?
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS I was down at Nelson with Grey Power last Friday, and I say to Maurice Williamson that its members are still cheering.
Hon PETE HODGSON ... had an interest—be they the SPCA, the Chambers of Commerce, the unions, the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society, Grey Power, or Māori—could take part in the quest for the offices of the land, and could do so without any regulation, at all. ...
Food Safety
Food Labelling—Country of Origin 6 Dec 2007
Sue Kedgley ... a wide range of organisations, ranging from Horticulture New Zealand, the Pork Industry Board, Consumers Institute, Grey Power, Rural Women, the Manufacturers and Exporters Association, the Council of Trade Unions, Safe Food Campaign, Organics ...
Appropriation (Continuation of Interim Meaning of Funding for Parliamentary Purposes) Bill
In Committee 14 Nov 2007
SANDRA GOUDIE ... would be saying “no way” to that, too. Here we have John Boscawen, who has started a campaign and is working with Grey Power and the Sensible Sentencing Trust to take legal proceedings against the Attorney-General, and the High Court has set ...
Employment Relations (Flexible Working Arrangements) Amendment Bill
Third Reading 21 Nov 2007
SUE KEDGLEY ... bill. This organisation is a coalition of more than 50 professional groups, community groups, and unions, including Grey Power, women lawyers associations, Parents Centres, business and professional unions, the Council of Trade Unions, and other ...
LESLEY SOPER ... New Zealand, the New Zealand Federation of Business and Professional Women, the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, Grey Power, the National Council of Women of New Zealand, the New Zealand Nurses Organisation, and many other unions—do not know ...
In Committee 7 Nov 2007
DARIEN FENTON ... Centres, the Federation of Business and Professional Women, the Young Women’s Christian Association of Aotearoa, Grey Power—the list goes on and on. They support what is being done in this legislation today, and I look forward to the third ...
Second Reading 5 Sep 2007
SUE KEDGLEY ... A coalition comprising more than 50 legal, community, professional, and union organisations support the bill. Grey Power, the International Federation of Business and Professional Women, women lawyers associations, and the Council of Trade ...
Health
Health Services—After-hours Medical Treatment 16 Aug 2011
Grant Robertson Did he say to Temuka Grey Power president Shirley Gilmer that cuts to after-hours services in Temuka “might not happen”, when in fact after-hours ...
Health Services—Minister’s Statements 29 Jun 2010
Hon Ruth Dyson What does he say to Grey Power, which yesterday raised concerns about Meals on Wheels being cut in the Helensville electorate, and is so distressed ...
Rest Homes—Standard of Care 23 Jun 2010
H V Ross Robertson ... blind eye to elder abuse in rest homes, and does it intend to do anything about the other issues for the elderly that Grey Power raised yesterday—namely, cutting home help, cutting hearing aid subsidies, cutting elder abuse education programmes, ...
H V Ross Robertson ...vernment’s barracking during the asking of my question, I seek leave of the House to table the media release put out by Grey Power yesterday, which the Government did not believe.
Health Services—Minister’s Statements 22 Apr 2010
Hon Ruth Dyson Does Bill English’s comment to Grey Power that he knew their pain about home support cuts because his wife forced him to clean their bathroom reflect his view ...
Health Services—Minister’s Statements 20 Apr 2010
Hon Ruth Dyson What has embarrassed him more: his colleague the Minister for Senior Citizens, John Carter, threatening Grey Power over its involvement in the Labour-Green aged-care inquiry; or his colleague Jo Goodhew refusing to comment on the ...
Hon TONY RYALL I have read Grey Power’s recent lobby report, which reports that its representatives met with Ruth Dyson. They reported in relation to Mrs ...
Health Services—Minister’s Statements 31 Mar 2010
Hon TONY RYALL I think what is apposite to that comment is to refer to a recent report in Grey Power Lobby Report about when Grey Power met the member opposite. They reported on the Opposition spokesperson on health in ...
Health Services—Minister’s Statements 18 Mar 2010
Hon Ruth Dyson Does he agree with Eric Roy, described by Grey Power as unaware of the hardship being caused in Invercargill, who said in a Southland paper that if home support for older ...
Hospitals—Capacity 29 May 2008
Hon Tony Ryall Is he aware that Helen Clark in Opposition said to Grey Power: “Just over the last week we’ve seen how badly equipped our hospitals are to deal with the basic needs of care. When ...
Hospital Services—Emergency Departments 23 Aug 2007
Hon Tony Ryall ... when in fact it was his Prime Minister who promised she would remedy these situations, so much so that she promised Grey Power: “When the winter crop of influenza, bad asthma, and other problems hit, our hospitals in many centres just couldn’t ...
Appropriation (2007/08 Estimates) Bill
Third Reading 14 Aug 2007
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE ...ment.” What was the old story in November 2003? At that time he said: “I don’t think there is any doubt”—I invite every Grey Power member to listen to this—“that the single biggest way to reduce that liability”—that is, superannuation—“is to raise ...
Prime Minister
State-owned Assets, Sales—Ownership of Shares 14 Jul 2011
Hon BILL ENGLISH As we discussed in the House yesterday, there has been an indication from recent Grey Power meetings that the Prime Minister has attended, where people who lost $8.5 billion in finance company crashes—which the ...
State-owned Assets, Sales—Meetings with Grey Power 13 Jul 2011
Hon ANNETTE KING At recent meetings he has had with Grey Power, have they raised with him their concerns about the sell-off of state assets?
Hon BILL ENGLISH The comments the member is referring to relate to the Prime Minister’s discussing with Grey Power whether they want the choice of investing in finance companies—where, under the previous Labour Government, investors ...
Hon Annette King What is his answer to Grey Power members who are quoted as saying in their magazine: “Why are we buying back what we have already paid for in taxes? ...
Hon BILL ENGLISH Grey Power members will not have to buy them back. Many of them will be quite happy with their 51 percent ownership retained by ...
Hon Annette King Can he remember advertising in the Grey Power magazine recently, stating “We’re working for you. Security. Well-being. Respect.”; if so, does that respect include ...
Hon BILL ENGLISH I do recall some ads in the Grey Power magazine, including one on asset sales, that did not carry an authorisation statement. I think that will be among the ...
Hon Annette King I seek leave to table an advertisement from the National Party in the Grey Power magazine that solicits votes and is unauthorised.
Mr SPEAKER Leave is sought to table an advertisement from the Grey Power magazine. Is there any objection? [ Interruption] Someone wants to know what date it was published.
Hon BILL ENGLISH There is more good news, which is why the Prime Minister is so popular at Grey Power meetings. In the last 3 years prices have gone up 10 percent in total, but superannuation rates have gone up 19 ....
Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga What other reports on asset sales has the Minister seen in relation to Grey Power?
GST Increase—Compensation 15 Mar 2011
Hon Annette King Does he believe Grey Power when it stated 3 weeks ago that there have been extraordinary price rises that are severely challenging the resources ...
Rt Hon JOHN KEY ... increased significantly under our Government. Whether there have been extraordinary increases, I do not know, but if Grey Power wants to detail them that is fine. One thing I can say to its members—and I know they thank me for it every time I go ...
Hon Annette King Is he aware that Grey Power members believed his promise to assist them and beneficiaries through the period while price increases stabilised, but ...
Hon Annette King Tell Grey Power.
Tax System Changes—Effect on New Zealanders 30 Jun 2010
Hon JOHN KEY I suspect they will respond the same way they did when I spoke to Grey Power and Probus Club members in Tauranga about a week and a half ago. There was an overwhelming response to the fact that I ...
Ministers—Performance 1 Jul 2009
Hon Annette King ... in her role and tried on numerous occasions to establish a formal relationship with her, but without success, or like Grey Power, which said the meeting it had with her “left a sour taste in our mouths as we felt we had received the old-fashioned ‘b...
Ministers—Community Consultation 7 May 2009
Hon Annette King Did the Prime Minister give an undertaking to Grey Power that if the organisation had problems meeting with Ministers, he or his deputy would arrange the meetings; if so, why ...
Hon Annette King Has the Prime Minister seen the latest Grey Power lobby report, which outlines its members’ impromptu meeting with Dr Nick Smith after unsuccessfully trying to get an ...
Hon BILL ENGLISH Knowing a number of the members of the Grey Power executive, including one who is a constituent of mine, I can say that they are sometimes prone to colourful ...
Hon Annette King Is Paula Bennett an example of a Minister who needs the Deputy Prime Minister’s assistance to arrange a meeting with Grey Power after it had contacted her twice by email, only for her to break her promise to follow up its request for a meeting; ...
Hon BILL ENGLISH The most enjoyable part of the Grey Power discussions is its references to the previous Government. I understand that Ms Bennett, like many Ministers, has met ...
Hon Annette King ... quick lesson on how to treat members of the public with respect and courtesy, after her dismissive behaviour towards Grey Power at a recent meeting, which it described as leaving “a sour taste in our mouths as we … had received the old-fashioned ‘b...
Hon BILL ENGLISH The Prime Minister asks his deputy to carry out a number of tasks, but Grey Power, like other groups, will find that National Ministers will be straightforward with it about what can and cannot be done—...
Hon Annette King Has the Prime Minister seen the most recent Grey Power report of its meeting with Paula Bennett, where it states that “she was either not interested in the elderly or did ...
Hon Annette King Does the following quote from the Grey Power report, describing its meeting with Paula Bennett, meet the Prime Minister’s expectations of appropriate ministerial ...
Hon BILL ENGLISH The Government and its Ministers have met with Grey Power on a number of occasions in the short time since National became the Government. I expect we will continue our open ...
Hon Annette King I seek leave to table the Grey Power lobby report, which contains every comment I have read in this House today, and which does not match up—
Electoral Finance Bill—Select Committee Changes 14 Aug 2007
John Key ... Ministers know that they would be regulating bodies and suppressing the ordinary legitimate activities of bodies like Grey Power, the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society, and the Post Primary Teachers Association?
Justice
Electoral Finance Bill—Freedom of Expression 14 Aug 2007
Hon Bill English Does the Minister believe that for groups like Grey Power, the Post Primary Teachers Association, and Forest and Bird—who could advertise their political views freely in every ...
Hon Dr Michael Cullen Is the Minister aware that the last time the Post Primary Teachers Association, Grey Power, and the Royal Forest and Bird Protecton Society in any way supported the National Party was in 1990—and Grey Power ...
Electricity (Disconnection and Low Fixed Charges) Amendment Bill
First Reading 7 Aug 2007
JO GOODHEW ... Mr Macfarlane who had something to say about this change in the low fixed-charges for power. The president of Timaru Grey Power, Len Cummings, also said it was ridiculous. He said: “It’s not very much. I don’t know why they bother. It almost ...
First Reading 26 Jul 2007
TE URUROA FLAVELL ... mōhio. me pēhea e taea ai te utu i ō rātau nama hiko. Engari, ko te tino raruraru i whakatakotohia e te Perehitini o Grey Power, arā, e Graham Stairmand, nāna te Kāwanatanga i wero kia ngākaunui mai ki ērā kua piki atu te utu mō te hiko i te 60 ō-r...
... difficult for them to pay their electricity bill is admirable. But the central problem lies in the facts outlined by Grey Power National President, Graham Stairmand, who challenged the Government to have some sympathy for consumers who have ...
General Debate 25 Jul 2007
Hon RUTH DYSON ... plenty of action from the deputy leader while the leader was away. One of the things I found most extraordinary—and Grey Power members from all around the country have been contacting me about this—was that Bill English is once again floating ...
Estimates Debate - In Committee
In Committee 17 Jul 2007
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE ... We netted, we snared, and we punctured the big fish, Mr English. What Mr English told the country—and I want every Grey Power member and every senior citizens club to listen to this—was that he raised the spectre of the means test on ...
General Debate 20 Jun 2007
STEVE CHADWICK ... as a top-up. National has already dropped hints about scrapping universal superannuation. The old-age pensioners and Grey Power remember when National cut the superannuation rates. National should come clean. If National ever gets the reins of ...
Urgent Debates - Mercury Energy—Disconnection of Electricity Supply
Mercury Energy—Disconnection of Electricity Supply 12 Jun 2007
... of poverty and neglect for years. Every member of this House will have been approached by advocacy groups such as Grey Power, the Child Poverty Action Group, and others who have warned us all that the savage and consistent toll of rising rates,...
Budget Debate 23 May 2007
Hon RUTH DYSON ... people might look at the record of the National Party. As Minister for Senior Citizens I spend a lot of time with Grey Power groups, Age Concern groups, and voluntary aged-care organisations up and down the country, and they remember the 1990s ...
Budget Debate 22 May 2007
SANDRA GOUDIE ... nothing for New Zealand. There is no vision, and there is nothing in it for the bulk of the population. I went to a Grey Power meeting and members asked what was in it for them. They cannot wait for the day to see the back of this Government, ...
Taxation (Annual Rates, Business Taxation, KiwiSaver, and Remedial Matters) Bill
First Reading 17 May 2007
CRAIG FOSS ... about the Budget. They are probably just asking where the money is and asking members to show them the cash. What is Grey Power saying about this Budget? What is in this Budget for the over-65s? What is in this Budget for the 20 to 25-year-olds? ...
Senior Citizens
Senior Citizens—Recognition of Contribution to Community 23 Sep 2009
Hon JOHN CARTER ... does respect the older people of New Zealand. More important, it is working with the many organisations, such as Grey Power and Age Concern, that represent the older folk in our society. This Government, with schemes such as those promoted by ...
Senior Citizens—Government Awareness of Issues 8 Sep 2009
Hon JOHN CARTER ... Senior Citizens I meet regularly with national organisations that advocate for and represent older people, such as Grey Power and Age Concern New Zealand. This engagement allows me to keep up to date with issues of national importance for older ...
Senior Citizens—Initiatives 23 Aug 2007
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS Again, there is more good news. This week the heads of both Grey Power and Age Concern were briefed regarding the card. Both were extremely complimentary and graciously thanked us for this ...
SuperGold Card—Microchip Technology 10 May 2007
Russell Fairbrother When can seniors, such as the members of Napier’s Grey Power, look forward to receiving their SuperGold card?
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS As noted earlier, seniors such as Grey Power members and the former leader of the National Party—
International Finance Agreements Amendment Bill
Second Reading 11 Sep 2007
HONE HARAWIRA ... Agreement on Investment brought together Māori, activists, unions, students, anti free-trade groups, local mayors, Grey Power, the Alliance, and even New Zealand First—Labour sat on the fence during this one—which eventually forced the ...
First Reading 9 May 2007
TE URUROA FLAVELL ... to remove virtually all restrictions on foreign investment. We will stand with Māori, activist unions, students, Grey Power, anti - free-trade groups, and local government. We will oppose any deals done with international corporates that ...
General Debate 2 May 2007
DARIEN FENTON ...gson’s announcement of a very large boost of $405 million over 4 years into the sector has been met with accolades from Grey Power, unions, aged-care workers, and providers. I wonder whether the member who spoke previously, Jo Goodhew, thinks that ...
Debate on Crown Entities, Public Organisations, and State Enterprises - In Committee
In Committee 1 May 2007
GORDON COPELAND ... there. Also of great interest, particularly to the elderly—and I know that this is the No. 1 priority now for Grey Power—is that Meridian as a company limited its price increases in the year under review to about the rate of inflation, or ...
Injury Prevention, Rehabilitation, and Compensation Amendment Bill 2006
Third Reading 28 Feb 2007
DARIEN FENTON ... the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, the Disabled Persons Assembly, the Women’s Division Federated Farmers, Grey Power, and other disability and community organisations. This campaign highlighted the significant number of cases where the ...
Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 14 Feb 2007
BARBARA STEWART ... second area where senior citizens will benefit is in the increase in superannuation they will receive this year. Grey Power has informed us that, according to its calculations, this year, 2007, as a result of our confidence and supply ...
Protection of Personal and Property Rights Amendment Bill
First Reading 7 Dec 2006
JUDY TURNER ... opportunity to speak this afternoon, I looked at the website of Age Concern New Zealand. I commend Age Concern and Grey Power for the work that they do with their members in trying to give good advice to people who are considering these ....
Social Security (Entitlement Cards) Amendment Bill
Third Reading 15 May 2007
SANDRA GOUDIE ... if some real benefits could come out of this for our senior citizens, and we acknowledge the great work that Grey Power has done. It is to be congratulated on all its efforts with regard to the SuperGold card. We recognise the importance ...
BARBARA STEWART ... in New Zealand First see the SuperGold card and the benefits that will be available as being complementary to the Grey Power card. Both of those cards will have the common objective of ensuring the best and most extensive use of the purchasing ...
HEATHER ROY ... responses to a very real issue of privacy that exists in our society. The other support for my amendment came from Grey Power, and I think it would be very odd for New Zealand First to start saying that Grey Power is suffering from hysteria. I ...
KATRINA SHANKS ... recognition of the great contribution they have made to our society. It is important that we recognise the efforts of Grey Power, which has lobbied hard and efficaciously for this card. Whether the card can deliver commercial discounts and ...
In Committee 10 May 2007
TAITO PHILLIP FIELD ... about the concerns that were in the media in this morning’s paper, particularly in relation to the president of Grey Power calling for a halt to the process of this bill—certainly in relation to microchipping. I signal that an amendment in ...
Dr PAUL HUTCHISON ... that a balance is required—the balance required and suggested by the Law Society, by Marie Shroff, and indeed by Grey Power. I cannot understand why New Zealand First is wanting to stampede into this, when Grey Power is saying that ...
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE ... in New Zealand but Asian crime gangs around the world will be hunting down every pensioner and attending every Grey Power meeting, so they can get pensioners’ cards and seek the information that may be on them about every discount and every ...
Dr PAUL HUTCHISON
... one does have to worry considerably. I think the New Zealand public should be worrying considerably, when we have Grey Power New Zealand saying we should hold on. Surely a microchip will not make one bit of difference to the efficacy of this card. It is ...
... governing the use of such technology.” It seems extraordinary, in the presence of people like Graham Stairmand from Grey Power, and in the presence of advice from Marie Shroff and numerous others, that this Labour - New Zealand First coalition ...
Second Reading 1 May 2007
DARREN HUGHES ... not a fair test to have. We now have a medical “fitness to drive” test that has been welcomed by organisations like Grey Power. Such organisations have also welcomed the SuperGold card that we are debating at the moment. Of course, the ...
METIRIA TUREI ... to the House on that issue. There continues to be a great deal of lobbying and involvement on that issue from Grey Power and from other organisations that represent older people’s issues. If we are to have a truly non - means-tested ...
RUSSELL FAIRBROTHER ... Flavell in which he raised his concerns, fear, and suspicions. I have to tell him, as a recent past president of Grey Power, that members of Grey Power do not share the paranoia expressed in that speech. Grey Power represents the older ...
First Reading 6 Dec 2006
Sandra Goudie Grey Power aren’t dumb enough to be sucked into that.
SANDRA GOUDIE At this point I would really like to pay considerable tribute to Grey Power. Grey Power has had the idea of a discount card for a number of years now, and I pay significant tribute to the fact ...
SANDRA GOUDIE ... that is available to them, the better. They need to look at what the bill actually does. I know that members of Grey Power will look at it quite closely. They have had a long-term interest, and I commend them for their initiative many, many ...
GEORGINA BEYER ... been something that we have tried to achieve in one form or another in New Zealand. Whether or not the idea is from Grey Power—all strength to them—the legislation has come through the vehicle of the New Zealand First Party and its leader ...
KiwiSaver Bill
Second Reading 24 Aug 2006
CRAIG FOSS ... help with living expenses? How will this help to pay for the price of petrol? How will this help the thousands of Grey Power members—whom New Zealand First members had a go at yesterday—who are trying to get by? I ask members to tell me how ...
Local Government (Rating Cap) Amendment Bill 2006
First Reading 23 Aug 2006
RODNEY HIDE ... that the people of New Zealand are disappointed with New Zealand First. I was surprised by Doug Woolerton’s attack on Grey Power today—for what? Not being sufficiently in love with New Zealand First; not going along with everything New Zealand ...
General Debate 23 Aug 2006
R DOUG WOOLERTON ... wartime: “We will remember them.” We think this is in bad taste. However, we want to quietly and respectfully remind Grey Power and these campaigners that they should remember a few things as they embark on this operation. The first thing they ...
R DOUG WOOLERTON ... sight more, with due respect, for rates in this country than Rodney Hide’s proposed bill. In closing, I suggest to Grey Power that if all its members who threatened to withdraw their votes from us had voted for us at the last election, we would ...
Energy
Carbon Footprint—Reduction 1 Mar 2007
Hon Dr Nick Smith Does the Minister accept the front page story in the Independent that quotes energy analyst Molly Melhuish and the Grey Power president as stating that the Minister’s energy strategy figures for the residential sector are all wrong and out by ...
Electricity Costs—Senior Citizens 25 Jul 2006
Hon Dr NICK SMITH Has he received any reports that the price of electricity is the thing most worrying Grey Power members throughout the country, as stated by the national president of Grey Power, Graham Stairmand?
Hon DAVID PARKER I am aware of Grey Power’s concerns and accept that adequate and affordable heating is important for the elderly.
Hon Dr Nick Smith Does the Minister agree with the statement made by Helen Clark to a Grey Power conference in April 1999 that superannuitants faced “a winter of misery” because of power price increases that were 3 ...
Hon Dr Nick Smith When we have a chorus as wide as Grey Power, the chambers of commerce, Business New Zealand, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, even Government ...
Estimates Debate - In Committee
In Committee 18 Jul 2006
Hon BILL ENGLISH ... of judgment”? An error of judgment in my constituency office is when my electorate secretary does not treat the local Grey Power president with respect. An error of judgment is when a letter is a week late. It is not just an error of judgment if ...
General Debate 21 Jun 2006
RUSSELL FAIRBROTHER ... people—that we could perhaps gradually raise the age at which people become eligible for superannuation. Tell that to Grey Power, whose members yesterday held their AGM and elected a new president, Don Patterson, and I welcome him to the chair ...
RUSSELL FAIRBROTHER ... families in Napier are eligible for this rates rebate. This applies not just to our older citizens—those affected by Grey Power—but to the many low-income people, the people who generally live in the two deprivation 10 index numbers in the Napier ...
Budget Debate 24 May 2006
JILL PETTIS ... meetings since I was aged 8, in the Hylton Hall, Somme Parade, Aramoho, in Wanganui. Chester Borrows said, at the Grey Power meeting in Hāwera two Mondays ago, that some new National MPs have never been to a political meeting in their lives, ...
Hon MARIAN HOBBS ... the country moved to Labour and away from National was the memory of National’s broken promises to older people—to Grey Power, and to any number of people in society it promised much and then whipped away what it had promised. Labour has not ...
Social Security (Long-term Residential Care) Amendment Bill 2006
First Reading 16 May 2006
JUDY TURNER ... the areas that will be the most controversial. I expect that we will hear from people involved in aged care, from Grey Power, and from people who want to talk to this bill. It is an area that United Future has some questions over. Those who ...
New Zealand Superannuation and Veterans' Pensions (Entitlements of Spouses and Partners of People in Long-term Residential Care and Remedial Matters) Bill
Second Reading 11 May 2006
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE ... know which Government supported them. No amount of squawking from those members will change the fact that the RSA, Grey Power, and the old folks in rest homes know which Government put in the dollars to assist them, which Government gave them a ...
Local Government Law Reform Bill
First Reading 5 Apr 2006
STEVE CHADWICK ... sure that we will get the measure through. Many people will be very pleased about the rates relief. Anyone who asks Grey Power members will find they will be thrilled to see their rebate rise from $200 to $500, and the top threshold for those ...
Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 21 Feb 2006
GORDON COPELAND ... important, in my view, that we bring the price of electricity down. For many years surveys have been done amongst Grey Power members, whose No. 1 issue for a long time was elective surgery. For Grey Power members now, the No. 1 issue is the ...
Address in Reply 15 Nov 2005
JILL PETTIS ... Brash did not even know on the day National’s housing policy was released that that was its policy. My opponent, at a Grey Power meeting in Wanganui, did not even know that the housing policy had been released that day and that it involved market ...
Reinstatement of Business 8 Nov 2005
RODNEY HIDE ... busy quelling a rebellion in his own caucus and party. In fact, that is what he is doing now. He is on the phone to Grey Power, trying to hold his party together. I have this statement from Mr Brown. ACT supports this motion going through. Mr ...